This spring, hundreds of East Baton Rouge Parish School System ninth graders will enter a world where “book burning” is the norm and the suppression of dissenting ideas rule the day.  High school freshmen will read Fahrenheit 451 in their English classes, as they participate in the East Baton Rouge Parish Library and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s “The Big Read: One Book/ One Community”. 

As an ironic contrast to the image of firemen in this selection, firefighters from the Baton Rouge Fire Department joined Library Assistant Director Mary Stein, as she delivered free copies of the book to freshmen at Tara High School and Belaire High School. EBR Parish Library staff will distribute books to other EBR high schools later this month.

Along with copies of Fahrenheit 451, lesson plans, DVDs of the movie based of the book, a special CD containing an interview with Ray Bradbury, discussion guides, bookmarks, and posters will also be distributed.